Farm and Soap Updates

Raising pastured laying hens in Vermont means that at some point in the year, your pastures will inevitably be blanketed in snow and temperatures will drop. So, during the coldest part of the year, my chickens, ducks and geese retire to the "poultry palace".  The set-up is oriented to best block winter winds. (The black fabric is a windbreak) I don't use heat lamps on the birds in the winter, so I rely on making their area snug but well-ventilated. Damp air is what leads to frostbite in chickens. Probably the biggest downside to winter, in the chickens' point of...

Parts of Vermont saw a LOT of rain this Halloween night, including around 3.5 inches here at Fat Chance Farm. Cows and chickens are safely on high ground (while the ducks and geese are enjoying all the new puddles) and everyone is fed and watered but it looks like all the vehicles will be staying home today. Road crews are already hard at work but there will be several culverts to replace and a whole lot of filling to do. Road gravel has flowed into our and our neighbor's pastures. We may be "mining" it for other projects! Removing the...

Growing up, I was only familiar with the ubiquitous Canada Goose. They lounged on golf courses and the stubble of harvested corn fields, they chased unsuspecting children away from their nests with a surprising lack of fear for a wild animal. I really didn't think much about them at all. Then I decided to get a few geese with my order of layer ducks from a hatchery. I like duck antics, I like duck eggs and meat, I figured I would like geese too. But no. I LOVE geese. Our geese are not imprinted on humans, which means they have...

All of the products that I make at Fat Chance Farm start out as raw pork lard and beef tallow from sustainably farmed animals. The fat must be rendered to be useable but rendered fat is not just for soapmakers! The resulting lard and tallow can be used for cooking, baking and even frying. And we're not talking Hollandaise Sauce folks, if you can chop an onion and fry an egg, you have the necessary skills and tools to render fat! Let's start with the fat. I buy fat in rather large quantities, as you might expect. A productive rendering...